MotoGP Assen TT Thursday Results 2014

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NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro led the way in the opening day of practice at the Assen TT, breaking Casey Stoner’s previous lap record set in 2012. Current points leader Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda finished second-fastest followed by his teammate, Dani Pedrosa, in third.

“I love Assen and I didn’t expect to be so fast from the first day,” said Espargaro. “It’s a great satisfaction to sign the new Circuit Best Lap, especially on this legendary track. I’m confident as we have a good rhythm with both soft and hard tires and tomorrow we will keep on working with the soft tire, which can be an option here for the race.”

Conditions were ideal for the second practice session of the day and in the final minutes Espargaro turned on the jets for the best-ever lap at Assen in the current configuration, edging past Marquez, who led for the bulk of FP2. The weather may not hold out, however, with forecasts indicating an increased chance for rain on Friday and Saturday.

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo lapped fourth-fastest, finding a few problem areas in his machine during the afternoon which affected the bike’s stability. Following Lorenzo is Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone in fifth and Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith in sixth. Lorenzo’s teammate, Valentino Rossi, finished seventh ahead of Smith’s teammate, Pol Espagaro, in eighth. Pol’s day started on a positive note, with the GP rookie claiming the top-spot on the timesheet for the first time this season.

“The big positive from today is that our rhythm is very close to my fastest lap time as I didn't really manage to squeeze the last bit out of my bike and me during my fast lap,” explained Pol. “But I did the whole session on my own and normally it's not easy for me to understand the right line during the very first day so I am truly pleased and convinced that we still have plenty of margin to improve tomorrow."